ACL Fest Q&A: The Bishops

The local siblings talk the fest, the future, and the food

Photo and Text By Rachel Cooper

Published: October 17, 2017

The native Austin trio The Bishops is working their way up in the local music scene with their charismatic energy and fresh sound that welcomes a wide array of fans. The former Austin Monthly Band to Watch combines hip hop, electro-pop, and smooth R&B to create unique tunes featured during their set at the second weekend of ACL Music Festival.

Comprised of siblings Chris (rapper), Troy (producer), and Cara (vocalist), their familial bond lifts them to a high level of chemistry and cohesion unseen in many young bands. The group sat down with us after their performance to give us some insight into their process and plans for what’s next, including a new single dropping this month.

Y’all are from Austin, so have you been to ACL before?
Troy: We go every year.

Chris: Because of our high school, all the kids have gone to it since like middle school.

Troy: I thought about not showing up this year, but…

Chris: Yeah, the fact that we got to play was dope. We go every year, but sometimes it’s like, "Do we wanna go?"

Did y’all get a call that said "You’re playing ACL?"
Cara: Our managers actually informed us.

Chris: We weren’t allowed to announce it, so it was something we had to hold in…

Cara: I was so excited.

Chris: We were like freaking out, and [we had to keep it quiet for] like half a year.

Troy: It was rough.

How did you feel when you found out?
Troy: We freaked out. We destroyed the house. We broke our house.

How did your set feel earlier today?
Cara: It felt great. There were a lot of people who were energetic.

Chris: I got a show high. It was like super good energy, because it started off with a sound check on stage so it was like, "Oh, we’re just gonna play," but then it just built up, it was like a flow of energy.

Troy: Yeah, I feel like the crowd doubled in the middle of the set.

Chris: Yeah I lost it, I was in the zone…it was cool.

What can we expect in the future from The Bishops?
Chris: Some fire. Some hot ass beats. I think we’re dropping a song [this] week, which we performed today actually. Our sets are always unreleased stuff because we’re always experimenting, and we only have three songs out. [Troy] composes everything, so we move around things and we see how the crowd likes it or not, so we definitely experiment before we drop it. We’re lucky to have that aspect, because some people have different approaches, but we’re lucky we have a platform.

Cara: We have a lot of opportunities with our shows that allow us to see what people really like before we release it to a more mass crowd.

Chris: Yeah we’re blessed in that regard because Austin has supported us and we’re lucky.

So are y’all building up to an EP or an album?
Troy: Yeah we’re working on it. It’s exclusive. All we can say is it’s coming in the future.

Chris: That’s such a rapper answer.

Troy: There will be some songs on it.

Chris: We’re trying to do a streamline of singles though, for sure.

Cara: We only have three songs out so…

Troy: We’re about to go on a little spree.

Chris: We definitely want to cater to our fan base.

Troy: But at the same time we’re just trying to make what we like, because it’s just for fun, at the end of the day. We’re gonna put out whatever we feel good about.

Obviously family is important to y’all, it’s in a lot of your music—does that help or hurt the music making process?
Troy: I think it helps it.

Cara: It helps it.

Troy: Because we have natural chemistry. But at the same time, I feel like if it’s just an ass song…

Chris: We’re very honest. It’s a little bit of both.

Troy: It’s funny because if it’s like, "F*** y’all, I quit the band." Then it’s like, "We’re still in a family, so I’ll see y’all tomorrow." So it’s like a safety net.

Chris: I feel like it definitely helps us, and this is gonna be very cliché, but it adds a flow, an energy, and it’s more real.

Cara: Yeah it feels really natural. It would feel more forced to hook up with someone you don’t really know.

Chris: Which we’ve done before. We’ve worked with some other bands, where we’ve never had the songs come out because it’s not…

Cara: Organic.

Troy: I also feel like we have a lot of similar experiences, coming from the same background.

Cara: Yeah, we can write about the same experiences. We really know how to be in each others’ shoes.

You performed with a blow-up alien named Eugene. Tell me a little bit about him.
Troy: He’s new to the stage, and we don’t know where we’re going to take this but hopefully we take it pretty far, so we’re trying to get Eugene a resume. When we’re old, I want to be like "Eugene played three Coachellas, a couple ACLs…" I want him to be at every single show.

Chris: I feel like he’s good luck, because the first show we brought him to went really well.